Today was a bittersweet day. It was Gerritt's last pre-kindergarten day. It seems that only yesterday he went to his first class. I drove him to the pre-K class at the Community Center near our house & then picked him up 3 days a week for almost a year. I rearranged my work schedule to make it possible. Only a few short hours to me (3.5 hours per day), but it was a whole new world to Gerritt. He learned about letters & numbers, insects & animals, coral reef & the jungle. He made art, learned how to sing, planted seeds & grew a butterfly. He learned about his body & how to make presentations. Gerritt also made many new friends.
With my Dad visiting from Russia, I was focused on getting the kids fed, pottied & dressed (I spent most of the morning chasing Jacob). Gerritt's pre-K graduation was at 12:15 pm, so we left on time to find parking & buy flowers for both of Gerritt's teachers. Luckily, my husband had today off, so I put him in charge of Jacob (Gerritt's concert happened to be near Jacob's nap time). I was in charge of video camera & photos.
Gerritt's face lit up seeing all of us walking into the room. First, the children presented a play for us. Gerritt was the main character - the silver fish. The silver fish was mean to other fish so no one wanted to play with him. When he took some of his sparkling fish scales off & shared them with other fish, he found friends again. The singing followed. The celebration ended with children singing Louis Armstrong's What a Beautiful World.
They were holding beautiful posters they painted to reflect some of the song's most memorable lines. Gerritt held a poster of a rainbow & he proudly lifted it up when he sang, "The colors of the rainbow...So pretty.. in the sky." After concert, the program's director Mrs. Vicky presented each child with pre-K graduation certificate as well as the graduation teddy bear. The celebration ended with everyone having cookies, cupcakes & juice. Gerritt was a wonderful host asking Sophia & I whether we wanted some juice or water. He also made sure Sophia had the chocolate cupcake she wanted.
I took Gerritt's photo with both of his teachers, since it would be a while before they see each other again. Of course, the teachers encouraged parents to bring the children for a visit. I was so busy getting everyone to Gerritt's graduation on time, making video of the concert & taking photos, I didn't have much time to be sad. The finality of the moment hit me only when the kids went to bed in the evening. It was the first quiet I had all day & I finally had the chance of think about & look back at Gerritt's past year. I wish there was a way to slow down time. The first 3 years of Gerritt's life were so busy, I wished he grew faster more times than I could count. And now my not-so-little "baby" will be turning 6 this fall as well as starting a kindergarten. Although Gerritt doesn't need me as much as he used to when he was younger we remain very close. And even though he has to share my attention with Sophia & Jacob, I have never regretted giving him siblings. I am so proud of the young man Gerritt is becoming & feel so lucky to be his Mom.
